Stuff I find, like for myself and would recommend to a client.
• from $390
• YLighting
Spotted at the AD Show last week, Robert Sonneman was a new name to me in the lighting world, but that was my mistake. Designing lighting since the 60's, Sonneman's new LED designs rock, particularly these Connetix wall sconces and the newer Quattro flat panel task light. There's a lot of LED out there suddenly, but this is high quality, warm glowing stuff, and all constructed with Cree LED's using very few watts.
• @ $24-$34
• Bellocq Tea Atelier
I had the pleasure of visiting Bellocq's tea shop a week ago (during a driving snow) and, escaping from the cold, tucked into a few tea tastings, a stunning interior and this crazy, had-to-have-it tea accessory: a fur tea cozy. Made of rabbit fur from Spain where the rabbits are eaten and the fur is a byproduct (better than not eaten and just hunted for fur), it is lined inside with lovely fabric, has two buttons on either side to help it close up more snugly, and couldn't keep your tea warmer. It's like having your tea pot run wild on the counter.
This is not available in Bellocq's online store yet, so I may be causing problems, but these are so useful, beautiful and cool I couldn't resist. Email them and please forgive me. xo M
• Call for pricing
Kudos to the creators, Matt and Giovanna Taylor. I saw these for the first time last week at the AD Show and they're genius. Easily applied, with lovely, aged textures, these wooden tiles are such a good idea, I don't know why they haven't happened sooner. That said, the idea may be simple, but the artistic skill and sense of color and pattern is right on with these folks from Brooklyn and not a given. "HAND MADE IN BROOKLYN. DYED AND SILKSCREENED ON MARINE GRADE PLYWOOD, THEY COMBINE THE GEOMETRIES OF TRADITIONAL TILES WITH THE WARMTH OF WOOD." Yes.
• from $68
• Pine Cone Hill
I really like this bedding. Part of Annie Selke's newest collection, Gradation, it's a soft, warm darks against soft, grey lights. It's the sort of luxe that also feels like comfort food for the home.
• from $13.29
This is my cool tech discovery of the month. I've been taking my good Instagram pics and sending them to Snapbox and they've sent me back really nice framed prints. I thought it was cheesy at first, but they have such a nice look and feel and make great gifts that I really think this is one way pictures ARE going to come back out of the camera and into our physical lives again. The ones above were taken at the Rolling Stones concert in January and at my friend's house at Thanksgiving.
• $375
• Morris Etc
Need a spot of color in your drab winter home? Here's another visit to a great new resource. These rugs are 5'5" x 4'6", wool, hand woven and one of a kind. Check them out and take advantage of this new family run biz with great prices and super colorful rugs.
• $14.99
• Amazon.com
If you love the Zoku quick pop maker like we do, here's a really fun new add-on that is also a nice little skill challenge for kids. The Character Kit is a kit of little die cutters and a special paddle that allow you to make faces to insert into your popsicles which appear only after you pull them out of the mold. You can spend a good deal of time making up faces and then CAREFULLY inserting them into the empty mold. Then you can play around with different layers of juice for different colorings and "hair" for your faces. It is simply a great after dinner project that becomes dessert.
• $249
Spotted yesterday in Christin's beautiful apartment on the UES that we were filming our new video series in, this is the final statement in the evolution the taxidermy craze. This thing is so big and bold, I really liked it. Made of white lacquered resin.
• $145
• Wiley Brothers Belts
I'm dipping my toes a bit into fashion here, but I saw this belt on a guy at the Arch Digest Show last weekend and thought it was a great design item. A brass hoof pick on a dark leather 1 1/2" belt, Wiley says it's their "signature." And for the adventurous, there's the Large Hoof Pick Belt, which "cannot be found anywhere else."
• $5.99 / Sq. Ft.
• Home Depot
Call this poor man's Carrera Marble, and you'd be right. I first discovered this at BDDW, where they used it for flooring, and then used it myself last summer out in the country to cheaply make a marble terrace (it's NOT for outdoor use. I'm experimenting). If you love white Carrera marble, this Home Depot tile is about as cheap as you get and it looks great. I recommend using it all over and trying hacks with it as well.
• $49.99
• IKEA
Feeling a bit guilty about posting such expensive Daily Finds lately, here is a great looking, super affordable desk that I saw at my friend's house in Chicago last month. High gloss and red on red, it is a generous size and adds a nice large dollop of color to any room. When my daughter and their daughter were drawing at it, they couldn't have been happier.
• from $31.99
Simple luxury. I wanted to have a really nice, sharp coir mat for my front door in my new place. You know, the kind that hugs the walls and fits in the floor. I didn't know anything about these things, and had only seen regular old doormats (that shed terribly) at hardware stores.
With a little bit of research I found a great resource and discovered that what I wanted was a Vinyl-Backed Coco Mat ("clean, plush look and are ideal for hotel, restaurant and office lobbies") which can be cut to any size. This is the type of thing that you can measure and order online really easily. If you measure properly, it will fit perfectly. However, make sure that you also measure the clearance under your door as well, because if you don't have that special recessed area, you'll need some space so that your door can open and close without binding. I purchased one 3/4" thick 27"x55.5" piece for my door. It came in a week and cost $113.40.
• $150
• Abodeon - Wonderful Eclectic in Porter Square
If you're looking for a unique, beautifully designed new kettle, I just found this obscure Japanese design at the Gift Fair in January and it spoke to me. Designed by Makoto Koizumi, this is an extremely simple and elegant enamel over metal kettle with beechwood and maple elements. It won Japan's Good Design Award in 2006.
• Call for pricing
• Oly Studio
Animals have crept in all over the design world, but this remarkable bed design is a particularly good translation. I love the cloven hoofs! I took this pic last month and have been waiting to unleash it.
The sculpted iron frame with an upholstered headboard comes in four finishes and three sizes.
• From $15
I got to talk about getting your green indoors this morning on CBS morning show, The Couch, and one of the biggest reactions came from showing off this beautifully designed wall mount planter/organizer system. Simple plates that mount on your wall and can grow in any direction are matched with super strong magnet backed vessels which will hold anything from plants to pens to magazines. It's a great, useful design to transform your vertical space.
• $1,049
• Room & Board
I took this pic one evening a few months ago and just found it again. This is a great chair in a great fabric, and I love how stores often do their best work for their windows. This is a comfortable, unique shape with style in a warm, nubby fabric. I had to figure out the fabric from the website, but I think I nailed it.
• $7.49
• Amazon.com
I've never written about dishwasher detergent before, but over the past two years that I've been using it much more and paying attention to the results, I've found myself loving these little packets. This is no scientific test, but these Method packs always leave my dishes clean and not gritty... ever. Some of the other brands I've tried have been a little hit or miss, which probably has to do with my machine as well, but, again, the Method stuff has always been the best. While I don't care for a lot of Method's crazy, fun packaging, I respect these guys for helping keep my dishes cleaner!
• $200 ($180 members)
• MoMA Design Store
I've been paying attention to humidifiers lately due to the intense indoor dryness of winter and my terrible nighttime respiration. There are a lot of cool looking ones that don't work too well or don't take much water, etc. This one is very efficient, elegant and - by all accounts - works very well. It's sold by MoMA and DWR and is owned by Leon Ransmeier, a NY based industrial designer, who went shopping for humidifiers in the NYTimes last year.
• from $20
• FinnStyle
Looking for a great, basic, stylish white dinner plate set with just a touch of modern? At the Gift Fair last month I was touring the Iittala showroom and spotted this beautiful, brand new design from Harri Koskinen, Aleksi Kuokka, Musuta and Samuji. The plates are flat with a smooth rising finish at the edges that is both surprising and subtle at the same time. There are bowls, cups and trays, but the plates are the best. It comes in colors, but I would just do the white.
• $195
• MoMA Design Store
Yum. Just saw this yesterday when walking through the store. It's really soft and well priced. Wool, Acrylic, Alpaca.
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